Ik/'V' 0 - 
Jr 
MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation ar.d Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
july, 1967 
Vol. 10, No. 7 
>• Pheasant Populations and Land Use S. L. Etter 
During the years 1962-64, 1,354 cock pheasants were captured and marked 
(back-tagged and leg-banded) during October and November on the 36-square-mile 
Sibley Study Area. Of these marked cocks, 544 (40.2 percent) were shot during 
the following hunting seasons and their tags or bands returned. The return rate 
for cocks tagged in the 16 Sections in the middle of the study area was 41.4 
percent, compared with 39-1 percent for cocks marked in the 20 Sections forming 
tne borders of the study area. These differences were not significant as indicated 
by chi-square analysis. 
The above data indicate that few if any cocks are shot far enough from the 
study area to reduce the probability of the return of their tags or bands. These 
findings lend confidence to the use of tag returns as indices of the proportionate 
harvests of cock pheasants. 
Manipulation of Roadside Cover for Nest ?nq Pheasants G. B. Joselyn 
Northward movement of the alfalfa weevil ( Hypera postica ) may cause problems 
for existing and future roadside seedings, for use by nesting pheasants, which 
contain alfalfa. Survey entomologists expect the weevil to be causing economic 
damage in east-central Illinois within the next 2 years. Although the effect the 
weevil will have on roadside seedings in this section of the state is unknown, 
two possibilities are suggested by studies on this insect in other areas. 
Alfalfa on roadsides where brome is dominant (usually the case with seedings 
over 2 years old) may ( 1 ) be completely eliminated over a period of 2-3 years or 
( 2 ) be reduced but remain in sufficient quantities to be functional enough as a 
nitrogen-fixing agent to insure the vigor of the brome stand. Should the weevil 
eliminate the alfalfa, alternate legumes not affected by the insect will have to 
be tested for use in future seedings. 
1 •-> ‘~o 
r— ,; l2 
g '■ §? 
»-ii— * oaflC 
3* Factors Influencing Distribution and Abundance of Pheasants W. L. Anderson ' 
- d 
The l cdy weight of 12 hen pheasants collected in Ford and Livingston counties 
during May 1967 averaged 1,075 grams. Examination of ovaries for the presence of 
ruptured follicles revealed that all of these hens had laid at least one egg, the 
average being 14.1. As a comparison, 13 laying hens collected in 1 966 had laid 
an average of 12.3 eggs and weighed an average of 1,045 grams. Mean weights of 
selected tissues and organs excised from the hens collected in l 967 , compared with 
those from the hens collected in 1966 , were: sternal muscles, 99 percent as heavy; 
visceral fat, 133 percent; liver, 112 percent; and ovary, 142 percent. These 
findings indicate that hen pheasants in east-central Illinois were in better physical 
condition during initial phases of the 1967 nesting season than during the same 
period in l 966 . 
